S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 3 Chapter 84

Lucky Murderer 14 – Anxious to Go to Jail

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"Hmm..."

It was approaching evening, Gongsun was lazily lying on his bed and groping... groping... around.

"Where are my glasses?" Finally, Gongsun couldn't stand it anymore and pushed Bai Jintang who grabbed his hand every time, "Stop it, glasses!"

Bai Jintang leaned one hand behind his head and gently squeezed Gongsun's wrist with the other hand without letting go, "The way you have to squint your eyes slightly when you can't see without your glasses is my favourite sight to see."

Gongsun was tempted to counter him with a few words, but unfortunately he was now so tired that he raised his eyes to the time on the wall, "Don't you have something to do this afternoon..."

"Hmm?" Bai Jintang lowered his head and kissed Gongsun's wrist, "No harm... in getting down to business."

"This is called business?" Gongsun leaned on his shoulder and poked his chest, "By the way, I've always been curious."

"Curious about what?" Bai Jintang reached out to touch the cigarettes on the bedside table. Instead, he touched a box before remembering that... he had almost forgotten.

"Why don't you have chest hair?" Gongsun asked curiously.

... Bai Jintang was silent for a moment, "If that stuff was there, it would affect the quality of our sex life! I think it's good that I don't grow it." Saying that, he reached down and took a box off the bedside table and handed it to Gongsun.

“What?" Gongsun took the box and looked at it. It was quite antique, and when he opened it, he saw that there were several small knives inside, which took on a coppery green colour, “This is?"

"Antiques dug up from the ground." Bai Jintang lit a cigarette, but before taking a puff, it was snatched away by Gongsun. Holding it in his mouth, he took out a knife to look at the engraving on it, and saw that they were all some ancient characters like those oracle bone inscriptions... and then looked at the material and weight, “Hmm, it's really an antique?"

“En, it is said to be the earliest surgical knife." Bai Jintang took the cigarette back and held it in his own mouth, helping Gongsun fix his hair.

"Giving me a scalpel?" Gongsun nuzzled upwards. The covers slipped down and the clear marks on his shoulders and spine caused Bai Jintang to subconsciously cough and hurriedly reach up to pull the covers up a bit to cover Gongsun's back so that he wouldn't turn into a beast again later.

"It's sharp, did you get someone to touch it?" Gongsun asked Bai Jintang.

"Nope." Bai Jintang shook his head, "I also thought it was just a fake when I first saw it, but I had it appraised by an expert and said it was genuine."

"This is a national treasure, isn't it, and you just got it like this?" Gongsun was surprised.

“En." Bai Jintang smiled, "How about making a hole in it, and you can wear it as a key chain?"

"So perverted." Gongsun couldn’t laugh or cry as he looked at him, reaching out and pinching his chin, "But I like it."

Bai Jintang froze, Gongsun actually told him that he liked it... except for the time they got married... Gongsun had always kept it to himself

"Do you like the knife, or do you like..." Bai Jintang pointed to himself.

Gongsun pressed him down on the bed, "What do you think?"

So... Bai Jintang couldn't stop himself from turning into a beast.

......

However, unlike Bai Jintang and Gongsun, who were busy having fun, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were burnt out.

They asked Luo Tian and Qin Ou to interrogate the three tigers of the Xu family once again, and Jiang Ping to analyse the origin of the coin, while the two of them set off to the Lian family home. On the one hand, they had to check if Lian Qianzhong possessed a homemade firearm, which would be a violation of the gun control regulations for starters. On the other hand, if they did find the gun, and a ballistic comparison proved that it was indeed the gun from which the bullet in Lian Qianyi's body was fired, then Lian Qianzhong would be suspected of attempting to murder his brother... and all the other people in the Lian family who have access to the gun would be suspected of committing the crime and would need to be investigated one by one.

Lian Tongli and Bao Zheng have been friends for many years, so Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang are really in a bit of a bind.

When they arrived at the Lian residence, it was a coincidence that a party was being held inside... they don't know if it was a cocktail party or some other dinner party. In any case, the courtyard was brilliantly lit up, and the cars at the entrance alone showed that it was a collection of celebrities.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, it can't be such a coincidence, and this is now even more difficult. However, if it is not a birthday party or a wedding banquet, then going in and catching people might become tomorrow's headline.

As they were about to enter, a black car stopped behind them and the person inside opened the door and got out, "Zhao? Yutang?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang heard a familiar voice and looked back to see that it was Zhan Qitian.

"Dad?" Zhan Zhao froze, why was Zhan Qitian here? At the same time, the door on the passenger side of the car also opened. Bai Yunwen stepped out and froze when he saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

Bai Yutang was a little embarrassed, it had been a long time since they had seen each other.

Zhan Zhao gently touched Bai Yutang, not forgetting to call out, "Uncle Bai."

Bai Yunwen nodded, and Bai Yutang called out, "Dad, Uncle Zhan..."

"You guys came to buy something too?" Zhan Qitian smiled and closed the car door, "When Jintang told us there were good things here, he didn't say you guys were coming too."

Bai Yutang froze – Brother had said that?

When Zhan Zhao saw that Bai Yunwen's face seemed good too, he asked, "Buying something?"

Zhan Qitian nodded, "It's best not to buy anything here, we're here to investigate."

"You're not the police, why are you investigating?" Bai Yutang blurted out, but thinking of the two men's identities, he asked, "What are they selling?"

This time it was Bai Yunwen and Zhan Qitian's turn to look at each other, asking in unison, "You two aren't here to buy anything?"

Bai Yutang shook his head, but he and Zhan Zhao were also relieved that what Lian Tongli was having was not a party for family and friends, but a sale of something, so he showed both the arrest and search warrants to Bai Yunwen and Zhan Qitian, who looked at them and frowned, "Murder and possession of firearms?!"

“En, let's go in first." Bai Yutang headed inside, and Zhan Zhao let them go first while he talked to Zhan Qitian at the door.

When Bai Yutang and the others went inside, Zhan Zhao asked, "Dad, what have you come to investigate?"

"Oh, two days ago, Jintang sent something to us." Zhan Qitian said, taking out two items from the car. When Zhan Zhao looked closely, he saw that they were an ancient sword and an ancient knife. At first glance, they are good pieces, ancient and solid.

"A large number of imitations are said to be bought and sold here, but Jintang had someone appraise them." Bai Yunwen spoke, "They're all genuine!"

"Genuine products?" Zhan Zhao took the apparently ancient knife and turned it over and over, "Bronze, this looks like a treasure from before the Tang Dynasty."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, it's from the late Han Dynasty." Bai Yunwen approached with a sentence that startled Zhan Zhao, who hurriedly put the knife down, "The ones before the Ming Dynasty are national treasures no one dares to touch, this Lian Tongli doesn't want to live, selling such antiques here?!"

"He seems to say that they are all high-quality imitations, and the price they are sold at is not very expensive." Zhan Qitian shook his head, "So I think he might be rather short of money or has another intention. After all, he's an old acquaintance, so he wanted us to come and take a look. If there are any problems, we can talk about them, but breaking the law is not allowed, right?"

"That's true." Zhan Zhao nodded thoughtfully. He always felt that this case was intricate and complicated, and there always seemed to be something very out of place.

“Zhao," Zhan Qitian gently poked Zhan Zhao and asked in a whisper, “how is Yutang's mood lately?"

“Huh?" Zhan Zhao froze.

Bai Yunwen put the knife back in the car and said to Zhan Qitian, "You guys talk, I'll go in and see what's being sold." After saying that, he quickly walked away.

Zhan Qitian laughed and shook his head, "It's really... obvious that he wants to know the most."

"Oh... certain parts are really genetically powerful, ah, Xiao Bai has exactly the same twisted character." Zhan Zhao lamented.

"Yutang is still angry with us?" Zhan Qitian couldn't help but ask.

"It's not that he's angry, it's just that he can't understand and you guys won't tell the truth, so he's probably a bit anxious!" Zhan Zhao also said helplessly, "Dad, why would you guys rather have Brother lose his memory than let him remember?"

Zhan Qitian did not reply, and only after a long time did he sigh lightly, “Zhao, let me ask you, if you were injured outside, would you inform me and your mother first?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "Not at all, I would be nagged to death."

"Only afraid that your mother will nag?”

… Zhan Zhao scratched his head, “I don't want you guys to worry."

"Children are used to pampering adults, rather than being spoiled, they would rather hide their pain. There is only one reason, they don't want the other party to worry." Zhan Qitian patted Zhan Zhao's shoulder, "Do you think your Uncle Bai and I would be so undisciplined as to mess around? It's really not the right time to explain."

Zhan Zhao nodded his head to indicate that he understood.

At this moment, he saw Bai Yutang walking out quickly, instructing people to look around, while holding an oddly shaped homemade sniper rifle in his hand.

"You really found it?" Zhan Zhao was really surprised, "There's a murderer stupid enough to just leave the murder weapon at home like that?"

Bai Yutang put the gun into the evidence box, "Lian Qianzhong was not in the room, I asked Lian Tongli and he said that he was there just now, but that he didn't know where he went, and that the window to the back was open... he probably ran away from there."

"Something's not right!" Zhan Zhao shook his head, "If the gun really belonged to Lian Qianzhong, he could have said that he lost it, or that someone had broken into the house and robbed it, and that he found it later, and he could have shrugged off Lian Qianyi's injuries. But now that he has escaped like this, he has become an escapee, and the charges will be enforced!"

Bai Yutang nodded and called the criminal police team there, asking them to put out a city-wide manhunt for Lian Qianzhong and to inform the immigration authorities to strictly check all of the people leaving the country. Since Lian Qianzhong has a small plane permit, he is likely to escape with a private plane, so all major airports should be strictly monitored.

At that moment, Bai Yunwen came out.

"Well?" Zhan Qitian asked him, "Are the ones for sale real or fake?"

"The real ones and the fakes are mixed together and being sold." Bai Yunwen said, shrugging, "But some of the customers are international speculators, many of whom don't have the intention of drinking."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sighed.

Bai Yutang called Bao Zheng and asked him, "Lian Tongli is suspected of selling cultural relics, should we arrest him as well?"

Bao Zheng froze and then replied, "Let's do it in a public manner."

... Thus, a group of people were taken to the police station. The case became so big and involved so many aspects that Bai Yutang felt that somebody from a higher cultural department would probably come to investigate the authenticity and conduct an appraisal before deciding whether to prosecute.

Standing in place and looking at the police officers who were busy collecting the treasures, Zhan Zhao suddenly asked, "By the way, where are that Mrs. Lian and the young master?"

Bai Yutang got the Lian family's servant to ask, and the answer was – they had gone abroad for a holiday.

"That's not right." Zhan Zhao was surprised, "Did they leave coincidentally or did they leave in a hurry?"

Bai Yutang looked at the sky, what the hell was this Lian Tongli's family up to? He immediately called Jiang Ping to find out where the mother and son had gone.

"Do you find it strange?" At this time, Zhan Qitian suddenly asked and wanted to say more, but Bai Yunwen patted him from beside him, "The next step is not our responsibility, let's leave it to the police." With that, he got into the car. Zhan Qitian helplessly patted Zhan Zhao's shoulder and got into the car.

After the car turned around, Bai Yunwen had to open the window to look at Bai Yutang, "Don't forget to call your mother, you unworthy son!"

The corners of Bai Yutang's mouth twitched – unworthy son...

When they left, Zhan Zhao continued Zhan Qitian's words and asked, "Does it feel wrong?"

"This family seems to be desperate to confess their guilt and go to jail, it's unbelievable!" Bai Yutang sneered, "This antique was just sold not long ago, no matter how stupid he is, he would know that such treasures have to be traded underground, right? To blatantly place it in the courtyard and sell it to a police officer's brother... he probably really, really wants to be caught by us."

When Zhan Zhao heard this, he smiled, "What is the attraction of the police station for a prisoner?"

"Definitely not the food." Bai Yutang joked, and Zhan Zhao shook his head.

The two looked at each other, and a thought popped into their minds – there was another important factor in staying at the police station, and that was safety!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

I love the moment between Zhan Qitian and Zhan Zhao, so cute.

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 14, 2022 by Angel